The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival has announced five initial selections for the 28th edition of this year’s film festival. They include a recent hit out of Sundance, an award winner and an audience favorite from the film festival tour, an indie comedy with some familiar faces, and an international drama. As SLO Film Fest prepares to return to theaters and in-person events in April with signature and always-popular screening events like Surf Nite, and the Central Coast Filmmaker Showcase, these five films preview the variety and scope of the programming film fans can look forward to in what might be the most highly anticipated year yet for the film festival in the past three decades.
“This is a great sample size of films to tease what’s in store for our audiences this year,” said SLO Film Fest Festival Director Skye McLennan. “While we are hard at work to nail down the logistics and production details to make sure we come back in style and with all the fun and all of the great movie-loving energy that this film festival is known for, ultimately everything we do is built on the films we have selected. And we couldn’t be more thrilled with what we have got in store for everyone.”
Mye Hoang‘s documentary Cat Daddies about men who have had their lives changed thanks to their pet cats is already a certified crowd-pleaser on the film festival tour, Justin Monroe‘s you-gotta-see-it-to-believe-it documentary Holy Frit, about artist Tim Carey and the artistic predicament he creates for himself won Best Documentary Feature at the Naples International Film Festival, and Rita Baghdadi‘s Sirens, about the growth pains of the first all-female thrash metal rock band in Lebanon, was a critical and popular hit out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
On the narrative side, Fabio Frey‘s My Dead Dad is a classic comic indie about a young man who inherits an apartment complex from his estranged dad and finds out from the tenants that he didn’t actually know the man. Among the film’s cast are Breaking Bad‘s Raymond Cruz, Red Rocket‘s Simon Rex, and Scarface‘s Steven Bauer. Representing the international offerings is Peter Luisi‘s Switzerland/Ukraine co-production, Princess, about the unexpected friendship that develops between a broken-down alcoholic and the young niece of his sister. Several years later, the now-grown woman is in trouble and the old man has an opportunity to repay her for her kindness when he was in need.
Passes are now on sale and information on the film festival can be found HERE.
About San Luis Obispo International Film Festival
Located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, San Luis Obispo’s laid-back vibe and serene natural beauty is the perfect setting for this highly regarded annual film celebration. Filmmakers rave about the warmth and attentiveness that is so much a part of the SLO Film fest experience, as does the swelling tide of industry pros and film critics who are fast discovering the film festival’s thoughtful audiences and unique programming sensibility.
